Barbie In A Mermaid Tale 3
by keelykelly
Summary: It's been two years since Merliah Summers gained the power of Meriliah. Now, someon's out to get it... the cold way. (This is one of the first stories I had written. I just hadn't gotten around to posting it. I hope you enjoy.)
1. Prologue

An evil smirk appeared on her face as she watched the young surfer riding on the waves through her looking pool. The girl possessed the power to create Meriliah… but not for long.

Bearer of Meriliah wait

The woman said, touching the image of the girl before her.

My destiny soon shall seal your fate.

For when you try to save the seas

Your whole little world will only freeze.

Then she fell back into her large seashell bed and laughed "Yes! The ocean will be mine! At last!"


	2. Trouble in Oceana

**Zachery Johnson stepped** off of the bus and walked towards the beach, followed by a number of other guys. They were in Malibu for a surfing competition that would take place at the end of the week.

"Hey! Zach!" A brown haired boy called, running towards him.

"Hi, Billy." Zach waved at his old friend.

Zach and Billy had known each other since they were little, then Billy had moved to Malibu, so the friends hadn't seen much of each other.

Zach was tall with blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a black wetsuit that was dark blue on the sides.

"So, what's up?" Zach asked.

"Well…" Billy thought a second "You're here. That's one. And there's a major surfing competition…"

"Alright, Billy. That's enough." Zach laughed, pushing some blond hair from his face "So, what's the competition here like?"

Billy snorted "You have the competition in the bag, Dude! Malibu's best surfer is a weird girl named Merliah Summers."

Zach raised an eyebrow "Weird? Meaning what?"

"Well…" He pointed towards the ocean "See for yourself."

Zach followed Billy's gaze. His eyes widened and his jaw went slack.

On a hot pink and aqua surfboard was a blond haired girl with pink streaked through her hair, which was pulled up in a ponytail. She was wearing a mid-calf length light pink surf skirt with a short sleeved shirt that matched.

"Wow." Zach breathed as he watched her ride the waves, a couple other girls behind her. Even from the distance, he could tell that she completely loved what she was doing. Her smile could have lit up a city block at two-o-clock in the morning.

"Zach." Billy said, waving his hand in front of his friend's face "Hey! ZACH!"

The blond blinked and turned his attention to Billy "What?"

The other boy just rolled his eyes "Nothing." Then he jogged off.

Zach watched as the blond girl, what had Billy said her name was? Oh, Merliah Summers, rode up to the shore and jumped off her board.

Her, apparently, friends came in right behind her, and they started laughing.

Merliah looked up at him just then and cocked her head while raising an eyebrow. She stuck her board in the sand then started walking towards him.

Zach stepped back a bit uncertain. He could already feel his voice leaving.

"Hi." She said when she reached him "You must be here for the competition."

Zach nodded "Yeah." He smiled "I'm Zach Johnson."

"Leah Summers."

"Leah?" He raised an eyebrow, his smile growing wider.

She nodded "Yeah… it's easier than saying Merliah all the time."

Zach chuckled "Yeah. I know that feeling."

Leah glanced back at the ocean and cleared her throat "Well… I've got to run." She sent him a small wave "Later?"

"Definitely." Zach nodded.

A slight pink tint came to the girl's cheeks, and then she rushed away.

When she reached her friends, Fallon took one look at her and smirked "Is it me, or are you blushing?"

Leah covered one side of her face "No… I'm just… hot."

"Hot?" Fallon crossed her arms "Leah, it's only, like, 72 degrees."

Hadley suddenly gasped "Ooh! You like…"

"Hadley!" Leah clamped her hand over the other girl's mouth "Hush! And no, I don't. I don't even know him!" she placed her hands on her hips "And besides, he's my biggest competition."

"So was Kylie." Hadley pointed out. Kylie's an Australian surfer.

A couple years back, she and Leah had been rivals. But after a series of events where Kylie helped Leah save her Mermaid home, they had become best friends. They met up in Oceana all the time.

"Speaking of Kylie…" A thick Australian accent said behind them.

The three girls spun around.

"Hey!" Leah squealed, hugging the girl "What are you doing here?"

Kylie shrugged "I came in with the Australian surfers."

"Leah met a boy." Hadley blurted.

Leah rolled her eyes "Seriously? Nothing happened!"

"What's his name?" Kylie asked.

"Zack Johnson."

The Australian girl started laughing "You met Zachery Johnson? He's the best guy surfer in Australia!"

"You know him?" Leah asked slowly.

"Oh yeah." Kylie nodded "We talk a lot. Actually…" she looked around and spotted the boy in question "Hey, Zach! Come here."

The boy looked over at her, his eyes flicked to Leah then back to Kylie "What?"

"Come here!" Kylie repeated.

Zach finally obliged and jogged over "Yeah?"

"Zach these are my friends, Fallon, Hadley," then she smirked "And I think you've already met Merliah."

Zach nodded "I have." His smile reached all the way up to his ocean blue eyes.

"Grab your board, Zach." Kylie said, pointing to a dark blue and green board several yards away "And let's hit the waves!"

Zach shrugged "Sure."

When he was out of earshot, Kylie leaned over to Leah "I actually side with your friends on this one. He likes you."

"He doesn't even know me!" Leah hissed.

"C'mon!" Fallon called, grabbing her board from the sand "Let's go!"

Zach joined them as they paddled out into the water.

Leah glanced over at him and smiled, then she stood up and started surfing. The others followed, doing an occasional trick here and there.

"Woohoo!" Kylie shouted "This is the life!"

Zach laughed "Agreed!" he looked over to Merliah to see her pull her hand out of the water. For a split second, he thought he saw something blue and sparkly come from her fingertips _"It must have been the sun reflecting off the water." _He thought.

All of the sudden, Leah let out a sharp gasp, and then tumbled off of her surf board.

"Leah!" The three girls cried in unison.

Then all four of them dove into the water.

Kylie pointed to the figure of a girl slowly sinking to the ocean floor.

The girls swam down and grabbed her arms, then quickly swam back to the surface. They gasped as soon as they broke through the water.

"Let's get her back to land." Fallon said needlessly as they began to swim for the shore.

They pulled Leah up to the beach and laid her on the sand.

"Leah." Kylie said, shaking the blonde's shoulders gently "Leah. Wake up."

"What happened?" Hadley asked.

Zach shrugged "I don't know. She just fell off."

"But she gasped first." Fallon added.

Kylie looked back at the ocean "She did that before. It must be that sixth sense thing."

The three girls sent each other a knowing glance, then Kylie jumped to her feet "I'm going to go get our surf boards." She said, placing a hand over her shell necklace, letting the girls know what she was really doing "I'll be back." Then she dove into the water.

Zach looked from the ocean, to the two girls, down to Leah, then back up at the other two girls confused "What happened? What sixth sense thing?"

"Oh, nothing." Fallon and Hadley said together.

**Kylie swam to **Oceana as fast as she could "Leah suddenly passing out has to be because something _extreme _happened down here."

As she swam, she didn't know if it was just her, but it felt like the water was getting seriously colder.

She swam over the last hill between her and Oceana. When she spotted the city, she gasped, stopping dead in her tracks.

Oceana was covered in a thick lair of ice!

"Oh my word." She breathed as she stared at the underwater kingdom "No wonder she passed out. If this happened suddenly…"

She slowly swam through the building, heading for the castle.

There was no movement anywhere. It was dead silent.

"Kylie!"

She spun around to see the sparkly pink dolphin, Zuma, swimming towards her.

"Zuma!" Kylie exclaimed "What happened?"

"Well…" Zuma looked around "I guess I don't need to tell you that we're covered in ice."

"I can see that." The mermaid crossed her arms "But how?"

"Don't know." Zuma answered "It was so sudden, no one saw it coming!"

"Is everyone okay?"

"I don't know. I just now was able to break through the ice that was over the palace door." Zuma looked around before turning her attention back to Kylie "I wonder why Merliah isn't here. I thought she might have been able to sense the danger."

"Well… she did." Kylie tittered "And she kind of… passed out."

"What!?"

"We were surfing!" the mermaid tried to explain "Then she suddenly gasped and fell off her board!"

"You need to make sure she's okay." Zuma said "Now that she has the power of Meriliah, she can feel when the ocean is dying."

"So, you're telling me that if this ice spreads, she can feel it every time a different part of the ocean dies?" Kylie asked slowly. She could only imagine what that felt like.

"Yes." Zuma answered "You go back to Merliah. I'm going to try to break people out of their houses."

"Wait! How's Calissa?"

Zuma looked back at the castle "You don't want to know."

"Is she…?"

"Frozen?" Zuma turned to swim away "Now quite. But real real close."


	3. Ice

"_**Merliah. Merliah! Your Meriliah is weak. You can't keep the ocean alive."**_

_**Leah looked around frantically, trying to find the source of the voice. But all that was there was dark, cold water.**_

"_**You can't keep using your Meriliah. You'll kill the sea."**_

"_**But how?" Leah cried "What do I do? Every time I touch water, Meriliah is created!"**_

"_**Give it to me." A hand came out of the darkness towards her, followed by a face. An almost threatening face with glowing green eyes "Give me the Meriliah."**_

"No!" Leah sat straight up, nearly throwing Hadley off the side of her bed.

"Hey. I take it you're awake." Fallon said from her position in the corner.

Leah rubbed her head "Oi. What a nightmare." She looked around her room confused "How did I get here?"

"We brought you here!" Hadley answered "Well, actually, Brake brought you here. I went and got him."

Fallon stood up and walked towards the door "I'm going to tell him you're okay… and Zach."

"Zach?" Leah sent her friend a questioning glance "What's Zach doing here?"

"Well, he saw you fall off of your board." Hadley answered "And he was worried. So we let him sit downstairs. Your Grandpa's with him."

Leah shook her head as she jumped to her feet "I have to go to Oceana."

"Kylie's there." Fallon said "She'll be back soon. You need to rest."

"I'm fine!" Leah insisted.

Fallon crossed her arms "Uh-huh. Sure. You weren't the one sitting here watching you sleep."

Hadley laughed "Yeah. You were tossing and turning and groaning." She was waving her hands for emphasis "That BAM! You sat up and shouted NO!"

"But here's what worries me." Fallon said walking over to her blond friend "Almost the whole time you were sleeping, your hand kept having blue flashes around it. It looked like Meriliah, just not in the water."

Leah looked at her hand "I wish I knew what was going on."

"Hey." Brake peeked into the room "Can I come in?"

Leah smiled "Sure Grandpa."

"Are you alright?"

"Mm-hm." Leah spotted Zach standing behind her Grandpa. She lowered her voice and whispered "There's an issue."

"Leah!" the front door downstairs banged open "Leah!" Kylie skid into the room "We have a serious problem."

"Yeah. Let's talk Algebra at the cove." Leah said, slightly nodding towards Zach.

Kylie smiled sheepishly "Yeah. Let me tell you, geometry's running my crazy."

The four girls ran from the room.

Zach watched them run down the beach from the window "There is no school." He mumbled.

"**What's up Kylie?" **Leah asked as they ran down the beach "Tell me everything."

"Oceana is covered in a thick lair of ice!"

"What!?" Leah skid to a stop "Ice?"

"Yeah." Kylie stuck her hands into her skirt pocket "Zuma doesn't know what happened. She wanted me to come back and see if you were okay."

"I have to go to Oceana." Leah said, turning to face the sea, then she stopped "But I can't."

"What!?" her three friends gasped in unison.

"Why not?" Fallon asked.

Leah looked down at her hands "I think my Meriliah is killing the ocean."

"That's ridiculous!" Kylie objected.

"Really?" Leah turned to face the ocean "Let's see." She closed her eyes and formed a small ball of Meriliah between her hands.

"How long have you been able to make meriliah outside of water?" Hadley asked.

"Fifteen minutes." Leah answered, then she threw it into the water. Where the meriliah hit instantly turned to ice.

"Um…" Kylie stuttered "Well… I… uh…"

"I am killing the ocean." Leah sighed.

"But… the ice happened before this." Hadley said.

"I had just got done running my hand through the water." Leah said shaking her head "And I was thinking of Oceana."

"There has to be more to this." Kylie said "Something must have happened that turned your meriliah to…"

"Iceriliah!" Hadley squealed.

"Yes," Fallon rolled her eyes "Thank you, Hadley for your input."

"But what can I do?" Leah asked sitting on the beach, all the while staring at the ice that was floating on the water.

"You only create Meriliah when you're doing something you love, right?" Kylie asked.

Leah looked at her hands "I don't know. In that dream I had, every time I touched water I created meriliah."

"Well, try sticking your hand in the water." Fallon suggested.

Leah sighed and did as instructed. Nothing happened "Alright. Let's go Kylie. I have to talk to my mom."

Kylie nodded "Let's go."

"If anything weird starts happening up here, we'll beep you." Fallon said.

Lean nodded, then she and Kylie dove into the water.

"I wish to become a mermaid." They said in unison.

As soon as their tails appeared, Kylie gasped "I wish I could breathe under the water as a human. It sure makes changing easier."

Leah laughed, then she started swimming for Oceana.

When they reached the hill between Oceana, they could a slight cover of ice peeking over the top.

"Merliah." Kylia said, coming to a stop "The ice wasn't that far when I was here a couple hours ago."

"So, it's spreading." Leah sighed as she continued swimming "There has to be a way to stop it!" As she swam into Oceana, she saw several merpeople rushing around. She shivered at the coldness of the water "Do you know if my mom's alright?"

Kylie shook her head "Zuma didn't specifically answer me when I asked."

"You ask around and see if you can figure out what happened." Leah said as she aimed for the palace "I'm going to go see my mom."

"Right." Kylie nodded then swam in an opposite direction.

When Leah reached the palace, she swam through a hole that had been broken in the ice that was covering the front door "Mom?"

"Merliah?" Calissa swam around the corner "Oh, Merliah!" she quickly hugged her daughter "Zuma told me what happened. I was so worried!"

"I'm fine." Leah said, returning the hug.

Calissa pulled back and shook her head "I don't know what happened. There has never been ice here before."

The younger mermaid sighed "Mom. It's my Meriliah."

"But that's impossible!" Calissa exclaimed "Meriliah doesn't freeze things."

"But mine does." Leah looked around the large room they were in. The windows were covered in ice.

Kylie swam in just them "I asked around. The merfolk just said that there was a really cold current that swept through, and when it passed, everything was covered in ice!"

"This is no ordinary ice." Calissa said "It's got a magical power behind it."

"What do you mean?" Leah asked, turning to face her mom.

"This ice has a power of its own." Calissa answered "It spreads and freezes anything and everything in its path."

Kylie and Leah gasped and looked at each other, both thinking the same thing.

That patch of ice that Leah had created earlier. It could spread to the beach and then freeze Malibu.

"Gotta go, Mom." Leah said quickly, swimming for the door "I'll be back soon!"

As she and Kylie swan out of the underwater kingdom, they saw that the hill right outside was completely covered in ice.

"The plants are dying." Leah said quietly.

Kylie nodded "But we'll fix this. I promise."

"First, let's see what that ice is doing."

Even from under the water, when the patch came into view, you could tell that it had grown… a lot.

Leah popped her head out of the water and started to swim towards the shore, but Kylie grabbed her arm and pulled her back under.

"What are you doing?" Leah asked.

"Tail." Kylie said pointing to Leah's orange and pink mermaid tail.

"Oh." Leah quickly wished her legs back, then swam to the beach, Kylie right behind her.

"Hi Leah." Zach waved, jogging towards her.

Leah cringed "Oh no. He can't see the ice!" she whispered to Kylie.

"Then lead him away." Kylie retorted, waggling her eyebrows.

Leah rolled her eye, then she waved at Zach "Hi." And started walking away from the water.

Zach followed her, not even seeming to notice Kylie still standing by the water.

"Is everything okay?" he asked when he reached her.

Leah plastered a smile on her face "Of course." She fibbed "Why?"

"Well, the way you passed out earlier, and then rushed out and then jumped into the ocean." Zach answered "Only to resurface two hours later."

"We…" Leah racked her brain for an explanation "We went to work on some algebra."

"In the water?" the boy raised an eyebrow,

"We have a secret cove we go to."

Zach shook his head "Never mind."

Leah looked up at him "Thank you."

His eyebrows furrowed "You're in trouble, aren't you?"

"What makes you think that?" she asked.

"The look on your face." he answered, turning to face her "If I can help. Please let me know."

"Thank you, Zach. But there's nothing you can do." Then she ran to her house.

Zach sighed then turned and started heading back the way he had just come. He looked out at the water, his eyebrows raised in shock "Is that ice?"

**(A/N: Thank you, Itdousn'thurt and the guest for your review. It means a **_**whole **_**lot to me. :D If anyone has any ideas for this story, I will gladly hear them! I might even use them! Thanks for reading!)**


	4. Cecilia

**Leah was laying **in her bed "How can I undo this?"

Brake shrugged "I don't know. But you'll find a way. You always do."

Leah buried her face in her pillow "And what if I don't?" she mumbled.

"You will."

She heard him leave the room _"But what if I can't?" _if she didn't find a way to undo it, it's possible that ice she'd created on top of the water would spread until it covered the world "I have to find a way!" she sighed "I have to." She closed her eyes and after a few minutes, she fell asleep.

"_**Merliah!"**_

_**Leah looked around. It was that voice again "Who's there?"**_

_**The same face as before appeared. Her hair was long and white, but it seemed to go on forever, even though it stopped around her waist, but it continually flowed.**_

"_**Who are you?" Leah demanded.**_

"_**I'm a friend." The woman answered, her green eyes flashing.**_

_**Leah eyed her doubtfully.**_

"_**My name's Cecilia." **_

_**Cecilia had a long light blue tail that faded to white at the fin. The bodice of her shirt was light blue and the sleeves were white and flowing, almost like her hair.**_

"_**How do you know about my Meriliah problem?" Leah asked.**_

"_**Everyone knows." Cecilia answered "And I can tell you why."**_

"_**Why?"**_

"_**You're only half mermaid." The white haired mermaid answered "You can't control the power that comes with the meriliah, and it has gone out of control."**_

"_**But…"**_

"_**It's terrible, but true. Meriliah is a gift that a mermaid possesses. As you know, only the royal family can spin it, after preforming the changing of the tides ceremony… which can only be done by a mermaid."**_

"_**And since I'm only half mermaid…"**_

"_**The power is only half complete."**_

_**Leah buried her face in her hands "What can I do?"**_

"_**Give the meriliah to me." Cecilia answered.**_

_**Leah looked up at her, her eyebrows furrowed "Why can't I give it to my mom?"**_

"_**If you tried, it would freeze her solid… forever."**_

_**Leah sighed and shook her head "I need to think." **_

_**Cecilia nodded "Of course. We'll talk later." Then she disappeared.**_

Leah's eyes fluttered open "What can I do?" she sighed "What can I do?"

The next morning, Leah slowly walked out of her house and started down the beach.

"Leah!" Zach called running towards her "You have to see this!"

Leah cocked her head confused, but quickly followed him. He led her to where the patch of ice was. When she saw it, she gasped. It had reached land and had covered a lot of sand. Like a city block worth.

"It's spreading too fast!" Leah groaned, she reached out and touched it. To her surprise, it shrunk away from her "What on earth?"

Zach was eyeing her curiously "You… know what this is?"

"It's ice." She answered lamely.

"In Malibu? On a ninety degree day?"

Leah shook her head and placed one of her hands on top of the ice. The ice turned blue then flew into her hand.

Zach stepped back in shock "Uh…"

"Zach, go get Kylie please." Leah requested.

Zach nodded "Sure." Then he jogged off.

Leah beeped Kylie on her walkie talkie watch "Kylie. Kylie wake up!"

"What?" Came Kylie's answer.

"Zach's heading your way." Leah said "I need you to find something to keep him distracted, then meet me by the ice. Okay?"

Kylie nodded "On it." There was a knock on her door "Hold on."

Leah heard Zach tell her that Leah needed her on the beach.

"Alright." Kylie said "And coach needs you."

"Okay." Zach said a little uncertain, and then he left.

"I'm coming Leah." Kylie said as soon as Zach was gone "Is it bad?"

"You don't know how bad." Then she beeped Fallon and Hadley, asking them to meet her.

"Sure thing, Leah." Fallon nodded "We're coming."

It seemed like an eternity before her friends finally appeared. But when they did, they were speechless.

"You mom wasn't kidding when she said it spreads, was she?" Kylie said.

"But watch." Leah reached out and placed her hand on some of the ice. It turned sparkly blue, then flew into her hand "It turns to Meriliah."

"So, all this ice is literally frozen Meriliah?" Fallon asked.

Leah nodded "Maybe Cecilia's right."

"Who?" Her three friends echoed.

"This woman in my dreams." Leah answered "Her name's Cecilia."

"In your dreams?" Fallon asked.

Leah nodded.

"Ooh!" Hadley squealed "Maybe she's your mermaid spirit guide!"

"I doubt it." Leah shook her head "She keeps telling me to give the meriliah to her. But I just don't know."

"Leah, if you give her the meriliah, she could take over the ocean." Kylie said "How do you know she's not trying to trick you?"

"I don't." Leah sat down and subconsciously started twirling one of her hot pink streaks around her finger "I don't know what to do. According to her, the reason my meriliah's going nuts is because I'm only half mermaid, and when I did the changing of the tides ceremony, it was only half complete."

"Logical." Fallon mumbled.

"Then why can't you give it to your mom?" Hadley asked.

"According to Cecilia, it would freeze her… solid… forever."

Kylie growled in aggravation "What else does this Cecilia say?"

"A lot." Leah chuckled slightly "But here's what I don't get. If it'll freeze my mom, why won't it freeze her?"

"Because, I'm not related to you." A voice said behind them.

The four girls spun around and gasped when they saw Cecilia walking towards them.

"Wow." Fallon whispered "Can you say walking ice cube?"

"How…?" Leah asked jumping to her feet.

"I'm well acquainted to magic." Cecilia answered.

"Okay…" Leah shook her head "Why will it freeze my mom but not you?"

"It will freeze anyone and anything that is close to your heart." Cecilia said "You don't know me, so I'd be safe."

"But if the meriliah fell into the wrong hands it could mean disaster on Oceana." Leah said, crossing her arms.

"Oceana's my home." The white haired lady said "The only reason I suggested it is because I want to save it."

"What if I gave it to Kylie?"

Ceciliah laughed "Kylie isn't even one-eighth a mermaid. And besides, she's a close friend of yours."

''Well, that knocks out Kayla and Zylie." Kylie mumbled.

"Think about it." Cecilia said stepping into the water "What you want or what you have to do." Then she dove in.

Kylie placed her hand on Leah's right shoulder "It'll be okay, Leah."

The blond sighed and turned away from the beach "I need to think."

"Okay." Her three friends said, nodding in understanding.

When Leah walked away, the three turned to look out at the ocean.

"There's got to be a logical explanation for this." Kylie sighed.

"What about a logical explanation for that?" Hadley gasped, pointing towards the patch of ice.

The others looked, their eyes growing wide. The bottom of the ice was turning red. Then a few moments later, it all melted and disappeared.

"Um… should we go get Leah?" Fallon asked.

**(Sorry to everyone who read the last chapter repeated. I accidentally posted the same chapter twice. REALLY SORRY!)**


	5. A small back story

**Leah went to **Wally's. A small ice cream parlor that wasn't far from the beach and slid into a booth in a back corner.

There weren't many people in, so it was pretty quiet.

"Hi, Leah." The waitress, Betty said. Betty was about four foot nine. She was quite round with a small silver bun on top of her head and bright sparkly blue eyes "What 'cha need, Hun?"

Leah smiled "How about a glass of water?"

"Alright. Be back in a moment."

Leah put her elbows on the able and out her head in her hands. What could she do? If her meriliah really was freezing the ocean, then she'd have to stop using it. But if the ocean didn't get its meriliah, it would die.

Betty came back and sat the glass of water on the table "You alright, Hun?"

"Yeah." Leah answered "I just need to think."

Betty nodded "Alright. If you need anything, just holler. I'll be in the kitchen." then she scurried away, leaving Leah alone.

"If I did give the meriliah to Cecilia, and she was a control freak like Eris, then the ocean would be doomed." She said to herself "But if I don't…" she groaned "What do I do?"

She was so deep in thought, she didn't hear the bell over top of the door jingle.

Zach stepped inside and shook out his wet hair. He'd just been out surfing and had decided that an ice cream might be nice. He looked around and almost instantly spotted Leah sitting in the corner _"Is she alright?" _he wondered _"She doesn't look like it." _After a few seconds of contemplating, he walked over to where she was sitting "Hi."

She jumped and looked up at him, then smiled "Oh, Hi Zach."

"Is everything okay?" he asked, sliding into the seat across from her.

Leah sighed and pushed her hair out of her face "I… I honestly don't know, Zach."

"What's wrong?"

"You wouldn't understand." Leah rolled her eyes "Or believe me."

"I might." Zach said "I've experienced some pretty odd stuff in my day."

"Not as odd as this."

"Try me."

"No."

"Okay, fine."

"Thank you."

Zach smiled "Any time."

Leah looked up at him, her blue eyes slightly curious. There was something strange about him. Well, not exactly strange, but different. Almost… special. She'd never met anyone like him. He was concerned when he knew something was wrong, but knew when to back off and give some space.

How long they just sat there staring at each other, neither one knew. But it was Betty that broke the moment.

"I'm sorry chillins, but it's thirty minutes past time to close. I'd let y'all stay all night but the boss won't let me."

Leah laughed softly "Thanks, Betty. We'll get out of your way," she stood up and dug into her pocket "Here's the money for the water."

"Oh, my, no!" Betty said, waving her off "It's on the house!"

"Thanks."

Zach chuckled "Nice place."

Betty put her hands on her hips "The best. Now hold on a second." Then she disappeared.

The couple waited till she came back, carrying two large chocolate milkshakes "On the house. Now get out before I have to use the paddle."

"Bye, Betty." Leah laughed.

Betty grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her back a few steps, then whispered loudly "Don't lose that buy. He's cute!"

Leah felt the heat creep into her face. She glance up to see Zach holding the door open, waiting for her while biting back a smile. He'd heard Betty's little declaration.

"Yeah." Was all Leah said as she walked towards the door "See ya later, Betty."

"Bye chillins! Have a nice night!"

Zach started chuckling as they walked down the beach.

"What?" Leah asked.

"Miss Betty is quite the character."

"Tell me about it." Leah looked up at him and smiled "I need to get home before Grandpa sends out the cavalry."

"Can I… walk you home?" Zach asked slowly.

Leah nodded "I'd like that."

So, they started heading towards her home. After a few moments, Zach spoke "Can I ask you a question?"

Leah shrugged "Sure."

"How'd you get pink in your hair?"

"Um…" of all the questions to ask! Why that one! What was she supposed to say? That they suddenly appeared when she was sixteen because of her mermaid lineage? No way "Uh… how does anyone get pink in their hair?"

"Dying it?" Zach shrugged "Okay, yeah. Stupid question."

Leah laughed "Maybe, maybe not."

"So… you live with your grandpa?" he was trying desperately hard to keep a conversation going.

"Yeah."

"If you don't mind me asking, where's your parents?"

"Uh…" Leah cringed slightly "My mom's got some… undersea business that takes her far away."

"Undersea?" Zach raised an eyebrow.

"I meant overseas." Leah laughed nervously "My dad died when I was a baby in an accident."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Zach smiled sympathetically "My dad died when I was twelve."

Leah shrugged "I would have loved to have known my dad, but, you can't always choose. And besides, my life's pretty complete right now." She looked up and spotted her home not far ahead "Well… I guess this is good night."

Zach nodded "I'll see you in the morning"

"Definitely."

Zach held out his hand "Until then."

Leah smiled "Good night." As soon as her hand touched his, she jumped back in shock "Whoa!" she exclaimed "You're hot!"

"Well, thank you very much Ma'am." Zach said teasingly.

"No." Leah shook her head "Your hand is _really _hot."

Zach chuckled nervously "Yeah… well, I've had my hands in my pockets this whole time… it can get pretty toasty in there."

Leah just smiled "Good night, Zach."

"Good night, Leah." Then he turned and walked away, whistling softly.

Leah sighed and walked into her house, closing the door behind her. Then her eyebrows lowered as a thought struck her "Wait a minute. Wetsuits don't have pockets."


	6. Ending

**Zach was walking **towards the hotel where he was staying, his mind on Merliah Summers.

"I'm pretty sure she's in some kind of trouble." He said to himself "If only she would tell me."

"Maybe she won't tell you because it's out of your grasp to understand." A cold, chilling voice said "But, you will discover it soon."

Zach looked around "Who's there?" he demanded.

"I am the ruler of the oceans!" the voice laughed "All I need is a little bait to get Merliah Summers."

"What does Leah have to do with anything?" Zach asked, not liking the cold wind that was now circling him.

"Oh you'll find out, Zachary Johnson. She'll come for you."

The next thing he knew, he was surrounded by thick, swirling snow. He heard a "Meriliah will be mine!" then everything went black.

**When Leah woke **up the next morning, she instantly knew something was _terribly _wrong. Other than the fact that she was freezing, it was snowing outside!

"Snowing!?" Leah threw back her covers and shivered. She grabbed a jacket off of a rack nearby and put it on. She didn't have any winter clothes, cause in Malibu it rarely got under fifty degrees.

"Grandpa?" she called, putting on her socks and shoes.

"Yeah?" Brake stepped into the room and blew out a breath "Woo! It's cold!"

"I've got to go to Oceana!" Leah said, grabbing an extra jacket "I've got to end this, once and for all!"

"Be safe." Brake said, hugging his granddaughter tightly.

"I'll try grandpa. I promise." Then she ran out the door. Her watched beeped.

"Leah. Leah!" It was Fallon.

"What's up?"

"I wish I could tell you." Fallon answered nervously "I don't know where I am. Or any of us are."

"What do you mean?"

"We're in this cage, and it's really dark and cold. And I think I see ice cycles hanging from the roof."

"Don't worry. I'm coming!" Leah ran straight for the ocean. A thick layer of ice covered the water.

Leah stared at it for a little bit. She touched it, but nothing happened "Why isn't it melting?" she whispered. She took a deep breath and began to form some meriliah, then she shot it at the ice. Where the meriliah hit, a big hole formed in the ice. But it was quickly closing back up.

"I wish to become a mermaid!" Leah said as she dove through the hole. She swam as fast as she could to Oceana "Zuma!" she called, swimming through the ice covered kingdom "Zuma!" as she looked around, it was obvious that a new layer of ice was covering the old one.

"Leah!" A faint voice called "I'm in here!"

Leah saw a faint figure of Zuma at one of the castle windows "Stand back, Zuma! I'm getting you out!"

The dolphin obeyed as Leah threw meriliah at the ice covered window. As soon as the hole appeared, Zuma swam out.

"Zuma." Leah said immediately "I need help finding my friends. I think they're in a cave somewhere! Somewhere where there's a lot of ice."

Zuma contemplated this for a little bit, then nodded "I think I know the place. Antarctica."

"Antarctica!?" Leah shook her head "That's miles away!"

"Maybe on land." The dolphin answered "But under the water, it's not too far."

"Then let's go!" as they began to swim, Leah asked "Is there a mermaid there, or something?"

"There's mermaids everywhere." Zuma answered "There's actually three different 'classes' per say, of mermaids. There's our, that live in the medium climate. Then there's the ones that live in the freezing climate, and then there's some that live in the _extremely _hot climate. As in, swimming in boiling springs is nice to them."

"Woo, that's hot." Leah chuckled, then she stopped "Wait a minute."

"Come on!" Zuma said, disrupting her thoughts "We need to go."

"Yeah." Leah nodded "Let's go."

Three hours later, they entered the icy waters of Antarctica.

"Brr!" Zuma shivered "T…this is c…c…cold!"

"Agreed." Leah nodded as she continued to swim "Now to find my friends."

"How about I just take you to them?" Cecilia said, swimming into view "They're dying to see you."

Leah gasped "Cecilia! What have you done!?"

"That's no Cecilia!" Zuma said "That's Icezellia! She was banned from Oceana years ago, because she kept freezing everything to try to take over the ocean!"

"Ooh!" Icezellia said with mock horror "If it isn't Zumba."

"The name's Zuma."

"Whatever."

"What is it you want?" Leah demanded.

"Isn't it obvious?" Icezellia rolled her eyes "I want the Meriliah!"

"Never!"

"Oh, we'll see about that." The white haired mermaid then snapped her fingers, and a large cage made of ice appeared, in it was, Fallon, Hadley, Kylie, and Zach.

Zach eye's grew wide when he saw Leah _"She's a… Mermaid!?"_

Kylie must have known what he was thinking, cause she looked at him and said "No. She's only half mermaid."

"How are they breathing underwater?" Leah asked.

"They're in an oxygen bubble." Icezellia answered "One that will quickly disappear if you don't give me the meriliah."

"Don't do it Leah!" Kylie called "Don't give up the meriliah!"

"Brave words for a person who's about to drown." Icezellia smirked "Just remember, Kylie. You can't turn into a mermaid anymore." She held up the shell necklace "Trust me."

Kylie gasped, her hand going to her throat "Oh no."

Zach looked at her "You're a mermaid too?"

"Only by chance." Kylie answered.

"Merliah!" The evil mermaid snapped "Give me the meriliah!"

"Even if I wanted to, I don't know how!" Leah said, the desperation obvious in her voice.

She had to get her friends out! She had a feeling that even if she gave up the meriliah, Icezellia would still release her friends _under _the water. And they were too far down to get them to the surface before it was too late.

"So, what will it be, Merliah Summers?"

Leah sighed "Fine. But under once condition. You let my friends go, _above _the surface."

Icezellia rolled her eyes "Fine. I'll release your friends _above _the surface."

"Leah! No!" Kylie cried "Don't do it!"

"What do I have to do?" Leah asked.

"Make the biggest meriliah ball you've ever made in your life and fire it at my necklace. It will do the rest."

Leah nodded.

"Leah!" Zach shouted "Don't! It could kill you!"

But Leah started forming the meriliah ball anyways.

"Leah!"

Leah threw the meriliah at Icezellia. As soon as it came in contact with the necklace, Icezellia began to laugh as a blue ray shot out of the necklace, surrounded Leah and began to drain the meriliah out of her.

Everyone stared in horror as Leah's tail disappeared, and she sank to the ground unconscious.

"Leah!" All her friends shouted.

Icezellia laughed "Finally! This ocean is mine! I only have one last stop, and that will be easy!" she then turned to face the others "And as promised. Tata."

In a blink of an eye, they were all laying on the beach. But Leah was nowhere to be seen.

Kylie put her hand to her throat "I don't have the necklace! I can't change into a mermaid without it! And I can't breathe under water without being a mermaid!"

Zach just shook his head "Don't worry. I'll be back." He placed his hand on the frozen ocean and the ice turned a slight shade of red before it melted away, then he dove into the water.

The three girls looked at each other.

"Why do I get a feeling we don't know that boy as well as we think we do?" Fallon said.

Kylie shook her head "We're definitely going to have to have a long talk."

**Leah groaned as **her eyes opened. She had never felt so weak in all her life. She looked around and noticed that she was in an ice cage.

Icezellia swam over to her "Hello, Leah." She smirked "You know. Now that you're powerless, I think I can tell you what was really happening."

Leah's eyebrows furrowed "What do you mean?"

"Well, you see. When your Meriliah was freezing everything, that was me."

"What!?"

"Yep. I was following you around, so that every time you threw some meriliah, I could freeze it on the spot and take it. But first, I let it spread. Because the ice multiplies whatever is inside of it. So it was multiplying the meriliah." The mermaid groaned "But then it disappeared one day."

"Where's Zuma?"

"Zuma?" Icezellia looked around "Oh she's… chillin." She pointed to a corner.

Leah gasped when she saw Zuma, completely frozen.

"You hurt my friends!" Leah said, her anger rising "You hurt my family! And you hurt my kingdom!" she slammed her hand into the cage, but got nowhere.

"Oopsy." Icezellia cackled "You can't break the ice."

"But I can!" A voice shouted.

The two mermaids spun around to see a large red, sparkling ball flying their way. It hit the ice cage and immediately melted the ice away.

Icezellia began to stutter "How… What… how…"

Zach swam into view "I'm sorry, Icy. But you kidnapped the wrong person."

Leah's eyes widened "Zach! You're a… Merman!?"

Zach shrugged, looking down at his dark blue tail "We all have our secrets." He said with a wink.

"Ooh." Icezellia scoffed "If it isn't Zachary. The Merprince of the fire regions."

"_Merprince?" _Leah thought _"Zach really could have helped me!"_

"Haven't you ever heard the expression, crime never pays?" Zach challenged "And FYI, Fire melts ice."

"Yes, but I can still freeze its holder and take it from him too!" Without a blink, she shot a ray of ice at Zach, which he quickly dodged.

Zach shot a ball of fire meriliah at Zuma, melting the ice that had her captured "Go get help!"

Zuma nodded and sped away.

Leah was feeling helpless. What could she do? She didn't have her meriliah anymore. Then her eyebrows furrowed "I didn't have Meriliah when I defeated Eris. I only gained it at the end of the second battle!" And she was _behind_ Icezellia.

Zach was putting up a good fight, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could go. Icezellia was strong… too strong.

"You're cornered boy." Icezellia cackled as she backed the boy up against a wall of ice.

"Don't count on it!" Leah cried, swimming forward. She couldn't swim as fast because she didn't have a tail, but it was fast enough to grab Icezellia and wrestle her to the ground.

"Get off of me!" The Ice Mermaid screamed.

"No!" Leah growled, holding her down "You tried to destroy my kingdom!" she didn't notice, but a faint, blue sparkle was starting to swirl around her hands "And I'm not going to let you get away with it! They're _my _people!" then, Leah's tail reappeared. Now that, she noticed. She looked down at her tail confused "What?"

Icezellia took her momentary distraction to her advantage and shoved the Merprincess off of her.

"Leah! You have your Meriliah back!" Zach said, helping her up off the ocean floor.

"But she's still too strong!" Leah whispered.

"Merliah!" Calissa came swimming into view and over to her daughter "Are you alright?"

"For now." Leah answered "But Icezellia has Meriliah, and some sort of Icy power, and who knows what else! She's really strong! Do you know how to defeat her?"

Calissa shook her head "No. But we have to try!"

Zach looked over at Icezellia, who was waiting for them to make a move. Obviously, she thought she had this battle won "I have an idea." He turned his attention back to Leah "Here, give me your hands."

Leah curiously obeyed. Now they were facing each other.

"Now, start creating meriliah."

Leah closed her eyes and concentrated in putting all her power into the meriliah.

Icezellia backed away in uncertainty. She wasn't so sure she liked the looks of this.

Leah looked at Zach to see him smiling at her, but between them was a large, blue and red ball of meriliah.

Leah's eyes grew, then she smiled.

Zach winked "Would you like to do the honors?"

Leah nodded "With pleasure." She grabbed the ball and faced the evil mermaid "Good bye, Icezellia." Then she threw it.

"No!" Icezellia screamed, trying to swim away "No!" but it hit and began to freeze her in a giant block of ice. Right before her last hand was frozen, she made one last, tiny ball of ice and whispered "Get her." Then she was trapped.

Leah laughed "We did it!" without even thinking, she swam right into Zach's arms and hugged him.

Zach laughed and returned the hug happily "I can't believe it worked!"

"What I don't get," Leah said, pulling back "Is how did the fire turn her to ice?"

Calissa shrugged "One of the unsolved mysteries of the ocean." She looked over at Zach and nodded "Hello, Prince Zachary."

Zach smiled "Your Majesty."

"You know each other?" Leah asked "Why didn't you tell me he was a merprince?"

Calissa shook her head "I didn't know you knew him." She then pulled her daughter into a hug "I'm so proud of both of you."

Leah smiled "Thanks mom."

Zach stood back and watched the two smiling, then something caught his attention. Not too far away, an ice ball was growing… quickly. Then it shot towards the two mermaids.

"Leah!" Zach shouted, swimming forward "Look out!"

Leah spun around and gasped, just as Zach swam between her and the ice, and he was instantly trapped inside of a solid, frozen, block.

"Zach!" Leah gasped "Oh no." she looked back at her mother "Can he get out?"

"No." Calissa said, shaking her head sadly "It's impossible. The ice renders him powerless."

Zach, who hadn't been paralyzed inside the block, but just trapped smiled and shrugged "It's okay." He said "You should go."

"No!" Leah shook her head defiantly "We're going to get you out! "

"Leah. That ice is still covering Malibu. You have to go stop it!"

"I'm not leaving you here!" Leah threw some meriliah at the ice, but it didn't work "Why isn't it disappearing like it did on the beach?"

Calissa sighed "Because, what was on the beach was meriliah, and it belonged to you. This… this is Icezellia's meriliah that she stole from the royals of the frozen regions."

Leah sank to the ocean floor "So… there really is no way to get him out?"

"No."

"Don't worry about me." Zach said "Go back to Malibu. I'll just chill here." His attempt to lighten the mood didn't work.

Leah frowned "No!" she straightened back up "I'm not going to leave you here! I'm going to find a way to get you out!" then she started forming some meriliah.

Zach's eyebrows rose "Whoa." He whispered.

Calissa and Zuma backed away from the princess.

"Your Highness." Zuma said slowly "Is that meriliah red, or are my eyes going?"

"No." Calissa said, smiling brightly "When her and Zach combined their meriliahs, it also mixed them!"

Leah threw the ball of meriliah, and as soon as it hit, the ice melted away.

Zach stared at her confused "You… you created fire!"

Leah looked at her hands "How?"

"We'll find out later." Zach said, grabbing her hand "But right now, we need to get to Malibu!"

"Good luck!" Calissa waved as they swam away.

"Why didn't you tell me you were a mer… man?" Leah asked.

Zach chuckled "Why didn't you tell me you were part mermaid?"

Leah shrugged "You'd think I was weird?"

"There you go."

"So… how can you become human?"

Zach glanced at her and smiled "I'm like you. I'm half merperson and half human. My mother married the King of the hot regions."

Leah laughed "So, your father was the mer-side, and my mom was the mer-side."

Zach nodded "Yeah. Something like that. Except, you were born with legs. I was born with a tail." He smiled brightly "My dad allowed me the privilege of swapping so I could visit my mother."

Leah frowned slightly "You said your father was dead."

"Yes?"

"So… does that mean you're actually…"

"King?" he waggled his eyebrows slightly "Not yet. But soon."

"Well, there's Malibu." Leah let out a puff of air "And… the ocean is covered in ice."

Zach tossed a small red ball of meriliah between his hands "Not for long." Then he threw it.

Leah nodded, then shot a ray of her meriliah at the ice. The ice faded, and the meriliah inside flew to its rightful owner.

"Look!" Kylie called to Fallon and Hadley "The Ice is melting! Leah won!"

Hadley cocked her head "Hey look. Her meriliah can turn Red!"

"Odd." Fallon commented.

The ice quickly vanished from the coast. The only cold left, was the snow that was falling from the clouds.

Leah and Zach poked their heads out of the water.

"Hi guys!" Leah called to her friends.

"Leah! You're okay!" Hadley cheered.

Zach pointed to the dark fluffy clouds over head "Shall we?"

Leah nodded "Yes. Let's."

Then she and Zach raised their hands out of the water, and side by side, a blue and red streak soared through the air and through the clouds. A few minutes later, the clouds were gone.

Kylie stared at the two in the water "Um… Zach. How about an explanation."

Zach shrugged "Sure." Then he lifted the end of his tail out of the water.

"Y… y…. you're a mer… guy?" Kylie stammered.

Zach laughed "No. I'm only half merguy."

Leah looked around "People are starting to come out. I think we'd better lose the tails."

Zach shrugged "Okay." Then he just walked out.

"No fair!" Leah laughed "I have to wish mine away!" after doing so, she joined her friends "And, Icezellia is trapped in her own ice."

"And now, we can surf some more!" Fallon whooped.

"The competition is tomorrow." Zach said.

Leah nodded "Let's go!"

"**And we have **a heated competition going on today!" The announcer shouted "On the girls team, it's a tie between Merliah Summers and Kylie Morgan! And on the boys, It's Zach Johnson all the way!"

At the end, Leah ended up beating Kylie by half a point.

"Sweet run, Leah!" Kylie called "But watch out next time!"

Leah laughed as she jogged over to her "Hey, I have something for you." She held up Kylie's shell necklace "I think after being a mermaid for so long, you'd miss it."

Kylie laughed and quickly put the necklace around her neck "You now it! I thought I'd just be all legs for the rest of my life!"

The two girls hugged, then the announcer called that everyone could get on the waves.

"Hey, Leah!" Zach called "Come on!"

Leah grabbed her board "Alright!"

They paddled out, then began to ride the wave.

"It's a pity I have to leave tomorrow!" Zach called to her.

Leah smiled "You know, Australia isn't that far away, by water."

Zach smiled brightly, then in perfect unison, he and Leah leapt off of their surfboards and dove into the ocean.

And thus starts the beginning of an amazing adventure!

THE END!

**(A/N: I hope this chapter didn't disappoint anyone. This story was surprisingly hard to write :p If I get any ideas for this story, I'll go back and add them in. Well, I hope you enjoyed. Laterz!)**


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